FR2998942A1 - LIGHTING AND / OR SIGNALING DEVICE, IN PARTICULAR FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a lighting and / or signaling device, in particular for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one light source (1) and a light guide (2), said source (1) comprising a support (4) and a plurality of light emitting components (6) disposed on said support (4) to emit a light beam, said device being configured to direct said beam toward said guide (2).

Description

The present invention relates to a lighting and / or signaling device, in particular for a motor vehicle. It is particularly intended for traffic lights and / or daytime running lights without being limited to such applications. In this field, we know that manufacturers want to stand out, especially with visually original elements, to be more easily identifiable compared to competitors.

Devices with a light source, usually a light-emitting diode, and a light guide in the form of a bead or sheet from which light is emitted in a free geometric pattern are thus known. The light propagates in the guide by total reflection to an exit face, which projects the light so as to be seen by the vehicles that follow or precede.

In the automotive field, such devices are appreciated because they allow to offer a wide variety of shapes and types of light. These devices today use light sources comprising a support for supplying power to a single light emitting diode, said single-component light source. The sources have a limited light intensity. However, their emission surface is small, ie about 1 mm in diameter. In the case of light guides having a surface configuration, the entrance surface of the light is located at a slice of the guide, of similar thickness. The integration of a plurality of single-component light sources along said entrance face is then possible and provides a good light intensity. In the case of a guide in the form of a bead having a section whose desired diameter is about ten millimeters, multiplying the number of single-component light sources to reach the desired level of brightness has limits. Indeed, the coupling of a large number of sources with the guide is complex and the loss of brightness generated by the coupling difficulties further limit the interest of such a solution.

The invention therefore aims to obtain a device, provided with a light guide, in particular in the form of a cord, capable of achieving the brightness criteria set by the regulations while limiting the number of light sources. For this, the lighting and / or signaling device, particularly for a motor vehicle, according to the invention comprises at least one light source and a light guide, said source comprising a support and a plurality of light-emitting components. , arranged on said support so as to emit a light beam, said device being configured to direct said beam towards said guide.

By using such light sources, also called multicomponent sources, the light emitters are integrated within the source and a light beam having a higher luminous intensity is available while limiting the integration difficulties. of the light source or sources in the device. Indeed, for a given light intensity emitted by said device, they are less numerous than in the case of the use of single-component sources. In other words, such a solution facilitates the coupling between the light source (s) and the guide. According to various embodiments of the invention, which may be taken together or separately: said support is a printed circuit and / or said light-emitting components are light-emitting diodes, said light-emitting components are arranged in such a way as to define an emission surface of said light beam on a face of said support, - said light source is configured so that said emission surface has a longitudinal axis of extension, - said light guide comprises at least one emitting portion configured to emit light outside said guide, and at least one guide portion, located between said source and said emitter portion, configured to transmit said light beam from said source to said emitting portion, said guide portion has a section smaller than that of said emitting portion, - an axis of transverse elongation of the or said guide portions is oriented along the longitudinal axis of the emission surface of said light source (s); the section of said guide portion or portions is rectangular and / or oval; said device comprises a plurality of said sources of light; light, - said light guide comprises a plurality of guide portions, located between each of said sources and said emitting portion, - each guide portion comprises an interface zone with said emitting portion, said interface areas being distinct from each other. the other, - said interface areas between each of the guide portions and the emitting portion are contiguous areas, - alternatively, said guide portions comprise a common interface area with said transmitting portion, - said guide then comprises an interface zone between said guide portions, in particular defined by a plane, the interface zone or zones are located at an input face of said transmitting portion, the one or more interface zones are centered on said input face of said emitting portion, the said guide portion or portions converging or not towards the same point of said input surface; of said interface zone and / or the sum of the surfaces of said interface zones is smaller than the section of the transmitting portion. The invention also relates to a lighting and / or signaling unit comprising said device. The invention will be better understood in the light of the following description which is given for information only and which is not intended to limit it, accompanied by the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. perspective of a lighting or signaling device according to a first embodiment of the invention, the light guide of said device being illustrated over only a part of its length, - Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of a lighting or signaling device according to a second embodiment of the invention, the light guide of said device being illustrated over only a portion of its length, - Figure 3 is a top view from Figure 3 - FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a lighting or signaling device according to a third embodiment of the invention, the light guide of said device being illustrated over only a part of its length; FIG. 5 is a view from above of FIG. 4; FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a lighting or signaling device according to a fourth embodiment of the invention, the light guide of said device. being illustrated on only part of its length, - Figure 7 is a top view from Figure 6, - Figure 8 schematically illustrates an example of a light source of a lighting device and / or signaling device according to the invention. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7, the invention relates to a lighting and / or signaling device. Said device will find its applications as a lantern and / or traffic light and / or daytime running light, without this being considered as limiting.

Said device comprising at least one light source 1 and a light guide 2. As is more visible in FIG. 8, said light source 1 comprises a support 4 and a plurality of light-emitting components 6, here four, illustrated schematically in dotted lines. Said components 6 are arranged on said support 4 so as to emit a light beam. Such a light source 1 is also called multi-component light source as opposed to the so-called single-component sources, comprising only one light emitter. They have the advantage of offering greater light output with a higher degree of integration. In particular, the components 6 of the same light source 1 share the same support 4. Said support 4 is, for example, a printed circuit. It serves, in particular to the attachment of said components 6 light emitters and / or their power supply. It may be a support type SMI or insulated metal substrate. Optionally, said support 4 further comprises control components of the supply current of said light emitting components 6. Said light emitting components 6 are, for example, light emitting diodes. They emit a white light, because the white diodes are the most powerful at the moment.

Said light emitting components 6, in this case said light-emitting diodes, are arranged so as to define a transmission surface 10 of said light beam on a face 12 of said support 4. In other words, said light-emitting components are arranged on the same side of the support 4, in a dedicated area thereof. That is, the beam emitted by said emitting surface 10 has a light intensity which is not necessarily completely homogeneous. Said emission surface may in particular have more illuminating areas than others. Said light emitting components 6, however, are arranged sufficiently close inside said emitting surface 10 to avoid giving the impression of the existence of non-illuminating areas between them. Said light source 2 can be configured so that said transmission surface 10 has a longitudinal extension axis. In other words, said emission surface 10 has a preferred direction of elongation. In other words, said emission surface is neither square nor circular. It is here substantially rectangular. Referring back to FIGS. 1 to 7, it can be seen that said device is configured to direct said beam towards said guide 2. The light source (s) 1 are here arranged opposite one or of input faces 14 of the light guide 2 so that said light beam emitted by the or each of said light sources 1 penetrates inside said light guide 2 by said input face or faces 14 of said guide 2. Said light guide 2 is configured to guide the light entering through the input face (s) 14 up to an exit face 16 of the guide 2, in particular by total reflection. In known manner, said guide 2 comprises a reflection face 18, provided with optical units, not illustrated, allowing part of the light rays propagating in the guide 2, to exit through the output face 16, provided opposite to said reflection face 18. Said light guide 2 is here a linear guide, of rectilinear or curved longitudinal shape, according to the needs of use of the device 1. In other words, said guide 2 is in the form of a cord or elongated element, that is to say an element having a cross section whose dimensions are much smaller than its length. Devices equipped with such guides 2 are particularly interesting because they can be arranged in multiple ways, in a minimum of space. It is thus possible to give guides 2 original shapes, and allow aesthetic creations with innovative design. Said light guide 2 here comprises at least one emitting portion 20 configured to emit light outside said guide 2, and at least one guiding portion 22, located between said source 1 and said emitting portion 20, configured to transmit said beam from said source 1 to said emitting portion 20. In other words, the at least one input face 12 of said guide 2 is at the level of said guide portion or portions 22 while said reflection face (s) 18 and exit face 16 are at the level of said emitting portion 20.

Said emitting portion 20 has, for example, a circular section and / or constant, disregarding the optical patterns made. According to the embodiment of Figure 1, the device comprises a single said light source 1 and said guide 2 comprises a single said guide portion 22. Said emitting portion 20 is here in the continuity of said guide portion 22. Said Guiding portion 22 and said emitting portion 20 and have an identical section, for example circular. According to the other illustrated embodiments, said device comprises several said light sources 1 and said light guide 2 comprises a plurality of guide portions 22, situated between each of said sources 1 and said emitting portion 20. Here two light sources are provided. 1 and two guide portions 22, respectively associated. Said guide portions 22 advantageously have a transverse axis of elongation, oriented along the longitudinal axis of the emission surface 10 of said light sources 1. In other words, said guide portions 22 are also elongate in a given direction and their direction of elongation is matched to that of the emission surface of the corresponding light sources 1. For this purpose, the section of the one or more guide portions 22 is, for example, rectangular, as in FIGS. 4 and 5, and / or oval, as in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen that, in a first variant, said guide portions 22 comprise an interface zone 24 common with said emitting portion 20, located in particular at a face d input 26 of said transmitting portion 20.

In this variant, said guide 2 comprises an interface zone 24 between said guide portions 22, defined by a plane. In other words, the guide 2 has a convergence zone situated upstream of said emitting portion 20. Said plane 28 is, for example, perpendicular to the input face 26 of said emitting portion 22. Said guide portions are advantageously symmetrical to on both sides of said plane in said convergence zone. Said guide portions 22 are here, for example, of circular and / or constant section, before the convergence zone. The coupling portion 32 formed by the joining of said guide portions 22 in said convergence zone may also be of constant section to said input face 26 of the emitting portion 20, that is to say, to be of section similar to the profile of said interface zone 28. The latter may have a symmetrical shape vis-à-vis an axis of symmetry of said input face 26 of the emitting portion 20, including one of its diameters.

According to a first configuration, said guide portions 22 converge at the same point on the surface of said input face 26 of the emitting portion 20, in particular its center. According to another configuration, they converge at two distinct points of said input face 26 of the emitting portion 20, for example, about 2 mm apart.

In a variant, according to the embodiments of FIGS. 4 to 7, each guide portion 22 comprises an interface zone 30 with said emitting portion 20, in particular its input face 26. Said interface zones 30 are here distinct from each other, for example contiguous. In this way, the reduction of optical losses is promoted.

Said interface zones 30 may be symmetrical with respect to each other with respect to an axis of symmetry of said input face 26 of the emitting portion 20, in particular one of its diameters. In other words, in these various embodiments, it may be considered that said interface zone or zones 24, 30 are centered on said input face 26 of said transmitting portion 2. Such a characteristic also contributes to reducing the optical losses. Advantageously, each of said guide portion 22 will have a smaller section than that of said transmitting portion 20. More precisely, here, the surface of said interface zone 24, according to the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3, is less than the section of the transmitting portion. In other words, the section of said coupling portion 32 is smaller than the section of the emitter zone 20. In the embodiments of FIGS. 4 to 6, it is the sum of the surfaces of said interface areas 30 which is less than the section of the transmitting portion 20. The invention further relates to a lighting and / or signaling unit comprising one or more devices as described above. Said housing may comprise other types of lighting and / or signaling devices so as to combine several optical functions.

Claims (15)

1. A lighting and / or signaling device, especially for a motor vehicle, comprising at least one light source (1) and a light guide (2), said source (1) comprising a support (4) and a plurality of light emitting components (6) disposed on said support (4) to emit a light beam, said device being configured to direct said beam toward said guide (2). 2. Device according to claim 1 wherein said support (4) is a printed circuit and / or said light emitting components (6) are light-emitting diodes. 3. Device according to claim 2 wherein said light emitting components (6) are arranged to define a transmitting surface (10) of said light beam on a face (12) of said support (4). 4. Device according to claim 3 wherein said light source (1) is configured so that said transmitting surface (10) has a longitudinal extension axis. 5. Device according to claim 4 wherein said light guide (2) comprises at least one emitting portion (20), configured to emit light outside said guide (2), and at least one guide portion (22). located between said source (1) and said emitting portion (20), configured to transmit said light beam from said source (1) to said emitting portion (20), said guide portion (22) having a smaller section than the said transmitting portion (20). 6. Device according to claim 5 wherein an axis of transverse elongation of said one or more guide portions (22) is oriented along the longitudinal axis of the emission surface (10) of said light source (s) (1). ). 7. Device according to any one of claims 5 or 6 wherein the section of the or said guide portions (22) is rectangular and / or oval. 8. Device according to any one of claims 5 to 7 wherein said device comprises a plurality of said light sources (1). 9. Device according to claim 8 wherein said light guide comprises a plurality of guide portions (22), located between each of said sources (1) and said emitting portion (20). 10. Device according to claim 9 wherein each guide portion (22) comprises an interface zone (30) with said emitting portion (20), said interface zones (30) being distinct from each other . 11. Device according to claim 9 wherein said guide portions (22) comprise an interface zone (24) common with said emitting portion (20). 12. Device according to any one of claims 10 or 11 wherein the or said interface areas (24, 30) are located at an input face (26) of said emitting portion (20). 13. Device according to claim 12 wherein said one or more interface areas (24, 30) are centered on said input face (26) of said emitting portion (20). Apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 13 wherein the area of said interface area (24) and / or the sum of the areas of said interface areas (30) is smaller than the section of the emitting portion. (20). 15. A lighting and / or signal box comprising a device according to any one of the preceding claims.